Tendinitis with rheumatism

Definition

The Latin term for tendonitis is tendinitis. This describes the inflammatory process at the tendon apparatus in the course of a rheumatic disease. Tendinitis (inflammation of the tendon) must be distinguished from tendinopathy (tendon disorders).

Tendinopathy is a chronic overloading and incorrect loading of a tendon. Basically, it should be noted that tendinitis can affect people of any age. The rheumatic disease is not an exclusive disease of the elderly person, but occurs mainly in different forms in childhood and adolescence.

Causes

The cause of the inflammation of the tendons lies in the immune system of the affected person. The diseases of the rheumatic form are autoimmune diseases. This means that the immune system, which normally recognizes structures foreign to the body as foreign and fights them, and recognizes the body’s own structures as the body’s own and does not fight them, no longer differentiates correctly and now also attacks the body’s own tissue.

All cells of the human body are covered with so-called surface antigens (small anchors that sit on the outer surface and have a very specific structure) – on the basis of these, the cells of the human immune system recognize that this cell is a cell that also belongs in the body. Cells and structures that do not belong in the body, such as viruses, bacteria and foreign bodies (splinters, threads), do not have these surface antigens. Therefore, the immune system recognizes that these structures must be fought and the immune system becomes active on different levels.

In an autoimmune disease, such as rheumatism, the immune system mistakenly recognizes some of the body’s own surface antigens (anchors) as foreign and activates itself to fight them. Antibodies are formed against the actually good surface antigens, which dock to them and mark them so that the antigens are killed. Rheumatism very often attacks the own cells in joints, muscles, tendons and other soft tissue structures. It should be noted, however, that this attack can vary from patient to patient. Therefore, not every patient with a rheumatic disease develops tendonitis.